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Prince Ea
| Origin = St Louis, Missouri | Genre = Hip Hop Political Rap | Occupation = Rapper | Years_active = 2005–present |Associated_acts = Make 'SMART' Cool Yousef Taleb Black Thought Wax Immortal Technique Canibus Sha Stimuli Dumbfoundead Adil Omar D. Scorch'd | URL = Official website }} Richard Williams, better known by his stage name Prince Ea, is an African-American rapper and activist. Early life Prince Ea was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of three children, and has resided there his whole life. The alias Prince Ea is derived from Sumerian culture (The Prince of Earth was the one who engineered or spawned man). He was influenced by the songs and style of hip-hop artists such as Rakim, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G. Chuck D, Canibus, Immortal Technique, and Eminem. Prince Ea graduated from high school with honors and earned a full scholarship in Anthropology at the University of Missouri, where he has a 4.0 GPA.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCdbwbrH6Rw&NR=1 Music career In late 2008 Prince Ea released the mix tape "The Adolescence" on the internet for free download. Widely advertised on websites such as Myspace and Youtube, it gained attention from numerous underground people of interest. Days after the release, Prince Ea recorded an amateur video of himself rapping and entered it into a VIBE Magazine contest dubbed "VIBE Verses". A few months later, Ea was declared the VIBE Verses grand champion and was awarded $5000 in music recording equipment along with a full page article in the VIBE Magazine, which held a total value of $50,000. In 2009 he won a Funkvolume competition with the help of his 6000 subscribers on youtube. His Youtube videos have received over 12 million views, Ea has been praised for his unique style which focuses on usually uncommon or avoided lyrical subjects such as scientific theory, government conspiracies and religious institutions. It is rumored that in 2009 he had won a competition for BET's "BET Cypher" but the promoters had feared a violent altercation would have occurred if Ea had attended, so they decided to choose the runner-up Crown Royyal as the grand prize winner. On March 13, 2009, Prince Ea's associate Yousef Taleb stated that his latest mixtape "The Mic In The Shoebox" is currently scheduled for a summer release. Prince Ea is the first hip-hop artist to ever have a feature in Discover Magazine. The "Make 'SMART' Cool" movement In late 2009 Prince Ea, upset at the present state of the music industry, and along with his long-time friend and teenage entrepreneur Yousef Taleb and newest associate Ericka Henderson., decided to form a movement named "Make 'SMART' Cool". The "Make 'SMART' Cool" movement (SMART is an backronym for "Sophisticating Minds And Revolutionizing Thought") attempts to "promote intelligence to everyone, everywhere and integrate it with hip-hop. To create and nurture, without discrimination or preference, a community of free-thinking individuals under the singular purpose of promoting the ideals of education, intelligence, unity and creativity throughout the world at large." A successful underground clothing line for the movement, which includes t-shirts and sweaters, was released and has gained support from artists such as newly signed So So Def producer Mike Kalombo. In early 2010 the movement received sponsorship from hip-hop artist Dr Dre's brand of head-phones, "Beats By Dr. Dre". Other artists to support the movement include Black Thought, Immortal Technique, Sha Stimuli, August Rigo, and Klassic. On March 29, 2010, Prince Ea mentioned in a Youtube update video that a few well-known and major artists have contacted him in support of the Make 'SMART' Cool movement, but he has not released any of their names or further details so far. Discography ;Official Mixtapes *2008: The Adolescence (available for free download) *2010: The Mic In The Shoebox (Set for a summer release) ;Official Singles *2010: “The Brain” *2010: “The Game” - Featuring Sha Stimuli ;Youtube releases *2011: "Different Girl" *2011: "Effortless" *2010: "The Game" *2010: “That Ain’t My Baby!” *2010: “I Made It Remix” *2010: “Hollow Cost”- Featuring Conspiracy of Mind and Adil Omar *2010: “Forever Remix” *2009: “2009 Flashback” *2009: “Make SMART Cool Freestyle” *2009: “Couple Bars Freestyle” *2009: “Angry Bars Freestyle” *2009: “The Future” Featuring. WydeFrame and G8Abak *2009: “Paranoid Chillin’” Ft Canibus, Sick Since, Presto *2009: “Hot 16 Freestyle” *2009: “Get Busy” Featuring Wax *2009: “Death of Autotune Freestyle” *2009: “One Hell of A Season” *2009: “Seth Petruzelli” *2009: “Does It Again Freestyle” *2009: “Nike Boots Freestyle” *2009: “Suicide Bomber Freestyle” *2009: "MC Showcase Freestyle” *2008: “Vibe Verses Freestyle” *2008: “The Truth” *2008: “Renegade Freestyle” *2008: “Mr. Me Too Freestyle” *2008: “Bars From Sumer” *2008: “The Lyrical Grassman” *2008: “4, 3, 2, 1 Freestyle” *2008: “Nightlight Freestyle” *2008: “Flavor in Your Ear” *2008: “The Last Days” *2008: “Why Remix” *2008: “Political Science” *2008: “Code of Honor” *2008: “Jurassic Park” *2008: “Einstein” *2007: “The Red Pill” Awards/Nominations *Vibe Magazine **2008, Vibe Verses Contest (won). *Funkvolume **2009, Funkvolume Contest (won). *Discover Magazine **2010, Discover Magazine Feature References External links *Official website *Prince Ea on YouTube *Prince Ea on Twitter *Prince Ea on Facebook Category:1988 births Category:Artist Category:Rap artists Category:American rap artists Category:Musicians from Missouri